NewsletterAutumn 2018

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Community Day 2018

Power, Vedicts & Ideas Page 9 >>

North West Science Network

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AoC National Championships

Ogden Prize

WinnerWe were delighted to be able to receive the prestigious Ogden Prize from the Manchester Geographical Association on behalf of Alexander Howell. Alex has received this award for his outstanding academic performance in A Level Geography 2017. The prize is awarded annually to the student who attains the highest mark in Geography at A level (all specifications) by the head of department in schools and colleges across the country.

James Foster, Head of Geography, who taught Alex said, “We had been away on a U6 geography field trip to Barcelona, I was feeling the cold of the English winter on our return, but when I opened the letter to see that Alex had won the award, it certainly helped to warm me up!

Alex is an outstanding geographer and as a department we are extremely pleased to receive this honour for him. Throughout his time at Xaverian he showed excellent academic ability scoring full marks on all his papers. He was always willing to listen and learn, through this mind set he continued to grow and excel in all his subjects.

This prize has been awarded to many prestigious school and colleges in the past so we were happy to get the recognition as a department. We challenge our students academically and maintain high standards in both teaching and pastoral life. The college is thrilled with this achievement and we hope Alex continues his development in his chosen career.”

The former St Matthew’s High School student left Xaverian in the summer having gained A* in History, Geography, and A’s in Government and Politics, and EPQ. He is currently studying History at the University of York.

Science and Psychology Conference Xaverian students and members of the Psychology Department went to the Royal Northern College of Music to attend a ‘Science and Psychology Conference’.

Highlights of the day included a talk delivered by Phil Banyard on the differences between science and pseudoscience, Cara Flanagan conducted a live experiment, Mike Cardwell spoke about ‘bad science’ and how to spot it. Peter Lovatt (Dr. Dance) showed us his moves and got us all on our feet whilst informing us about the links between ‘dance, hormones and thinking’, and Oliver Meech demonstrated tricks and lectured on ‘the amazing brain and the psychology of magic.’ The crescendo act was led by the world famous hypnotist Andrew Newton – Xaverian students found themselves on stage in a suggestible state carrying out amusing and intriguing behaviours such as using their partner’s shoe as an oxygen mask!

The day was a brilliant hybrid of academia and fun – loved by staff and students alike.

Geography Trip to BarcelonaU6 Geography Students took another step closer to their exam by travelling toSpain where they spent a week studying and interpreting the Barcelona landscape in preparation for their research paper.

Head of Geography, James Foster shares his experience of the trip.

“Our students arrived home from an exhilarating whistle stop tour of Barcelona. Soon after arriving we were taken to Llobregat Water Plant to see how state of the art equipment was making sure that the people of Barcelona had access to freshwater after the droughts of the past. After a late evening lesson the students had free time to socialise in the local halls of residence in Sitges before retiring for the night.

On the second day we went to look at the issues to do with Catalan sovereignty and were guided by a resident and author as well as BBC reporter on the main topics and issues associated with the recent troubles. After lunch there was no respite for the students as they began to consider the impacts of globalisation on the city and the need for the redevelopment of the El Ravel areas just off the famous Barcelona Las Ramblas in the centre of the city. Experts were on hand to guide students in building up excellent case studies as well as significant knowledge that will prepare them for the exams in the summer.

The final day involved an in-depth look into the regeneration of El Ravel as well as fieldwork before moving on the Olympic village to

consider the impacts that the 2012 Olympic redevelopment has had on the fortunes of the city. Students were taken to the new sustainable city area of Barcelona to look at the impact of the social, economic and environmental programmes put in place over the last few years, which now include offices owned by Amazon and Google.

Students were given an exam to complete which was duly done outside by the pool in the sunshine. After which they were given time to enjoy the weather on the beach before the coach picked them up to take them back to the airport.

It is trips like this that students will remember for years to come. Not only learning new things but also experiencing it first-hand. The case studies will prove invaluable to them and hopefully encourage them further in developing their knowledge outside of the college. We have been running trips for several years in the U6 all of which have proven successful in terms of grades and students enjoyment. This is the first time in Barcelona and not in the mountains but certainly it will be a trip to build on in years to come.”

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Students traveled Spain

where they spent a week

studying and interpreting

the Barcelona landscape

in preparation for

their research

paper.

Talking Global & European Politics

The Xaverian Drama Department performed their third and fourth plays of the academic year: a double-bill of John Godber’s comedy magic, as part of Xaverian College’s Drama Enrichment Programme. Twelve actors across our upper and lower sixth, with a mixture of both those studying A-level Drama & Theatre and those not, have worked diligently since January to prepare for these performances. Godber’s Male-focused ‘Bouncers’ and female-focused ‘Shakers’ (the latter co-written with Jane Thornton) are two one-act plays that present the lives of 1980s working-class Britons, with a nostalgic 1980s sound track to match.

‘Shakers’ is a new experiment for the Drama Department, with two of our past Drama students returning to direct the play. Carly Bell is currently working as a Drama Assistant at Xaverian, whilst Madeleine Healey worked as our Drama Assistant last year. Both are fantastic actresses in their own right and are preparing themselves for future professions in the world of theatre and acting. Miss Cotter commented, “It has been a lovely experience to watch our returning students pass on their skills and knowledge. The cast have learned so much from Madeleine and Carly – who have both been amazing in the role of director. We are incredibly proud of both of them.” This sentiment is clearly shared by the cast. Upper sixth Drama student Olivia Dady, and a now seasoned Xaverian performer with three productions under her belt, noted “I really enjoyed rehearsing Shakers, the whole process was so much fun. Carly and Madeleine were great directors”.

Trendy Cocktail Bar ‘Shakers’ primarily follows the lives of four cocktail waitresses: Carol (Leia Cain) a college graduate; Adele (Kathryn Stephenson) an aspiring mother; Nicki (Fay Wilde) a

wanna-be actress; and Mel (Erin Johnson) the peace maker of the group. From party girls to eighties yuppies– audiences were given a wickedly funny glimpse of the Shakers world by these four long-suffering waitresses. Olivia Dady, Beth McDonnell, Sophie Cutler and Alex Fox-Graham’s multi-roling as the hilarious archetype customers brought some of the loudest laughs of the performances with their comedy timing.

‘Bouncers’ was directed by our very own Mr Mitchell (Drama Curriculum Leader) and tells a similar story but from a male point of view. The four Disco Bouncers were performed by four talented upper sixth actors now well known to the regular Drama production attender, having performed between them in our last four productions: Robbie O’Neill, Frankie Hayes, Liam Dodd and Jamie Murray. The play invites us on a night on the town with the four actors taking on both the roles of Bouncers but also the wide variety of Disco customers from giggly girls to lads on the make, Hooray Henrys to pogo-ing punks, all against the tatty, glitzy glamour, flashing lights and pulsating beat of the disco floor. Frankie commented that working on ‘Bouncers’ was “absolutely amazing. I loved working with the cast and Mr Mitchell who did a great job at directing”. Mr Mitchell praised the four actors in return noting “this was more than me directing them. At this stage of the enrichment programme and with their experience now it really was a collaboration.”

Xaverian students attended a Model United Nations (MUN) conference hosted by Manchester High School for Girls. Not only schools and colleges from around the country took part in this first conference of the year for Xaverian students but also in attendance were international schools from Tehran and Latvia which added a true international dimension to the conference. The delegates represented Argentina and Iran across many different committees, debating issues, from corruption in political office to the famine in Yemen. As well as having an interesting and enjoyable conference, we also had success, coming away with the prestigious Highly Commended Delegate award. Many of the students from Xaverian experienced their first taste of MUN debating and thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to the next conference.

The previous event saw four Xaverian students attend the regional European Youth Parliament competition at Manchester Central Library. We represented the Environment Committee and contributed to a variety of different debates on issues such as the effects of Brexit on the EU and whether or not the EU should have its own armed forces. Our committee was tasked with arguing in favour of the EU’s current environmental protection plans and the dangers of global warming in a speech delivered by Charlie Godfrey. The other schools and colleges from Greater Manchester in attendance were asking questions to Alex Clarke and Daniel Rimes about our position and possible solutions to the issue and Nathan Eckersley delivered the closing speech to our argument. The event

was very interesting and enjoyable for the students and a great insight into the work which the EU does on a daily basis.

“We love students putting themselves out there to research, construct arguments and debate a range of view points on political, social, economic and technological issues. Model United Nations and European Youth events are an outstanding way for students to get to grips with issues policy makers and diplomats have to face on a daily basis and to develop their negotiation skills in a fun but stimulating environment”, concludes Alison Hall, Head of Politics at Xaverian.

Xaverian College hosted its annual Careers Talks event for all our Lower 6th students. The objective of the event was to encourage students to explore possibilities in the world of work – to learn more about specific career paths, to gain an understanding of the qualifications required and to be aware of the many options available to them via university or employment.

It was a huge success with over 1000 students attending two of 40 different talks. We welcomed a range of speakers including our partners from the following Universities: Manchester, Salford, Liverpool John Moores, MMU, Huddersfield, Coventry, UCLAN, LIPA, Staffordshire, Edge Hill, Cumbria, Leeds, and Leeds Trinity. We also had guest speakers from industry including Balfour Beatty, Siemens, UCFB, Central Manchester University Hospitals, The BBC, The Ministry of Defence, The Juice Academy, All Seas Global, Manchester Museum, Pozzoni, KMMG and QIAGEN. On top of this we had specialist apprenticeship speakers from The Apprentice Academy and GLMPN.

Xaverian Ambassadors were on hand to assist in delivering the event by helping our speakers in navigating their way around the campus. Students had an opportunity to sign-up for two talks from 40 different career sectors – from the established career areas of medicine, law, teaching, accountancy, to others such as Logistics or Journalism.

At least two of our speakers were ex-students and they relished returning to our college, “I had a great time here when I was younger and it’s so rewarding to give something back. The students were so keen it was a pleasure to talk”

The Careers Department received lots of positive feedback from our students, Xaverian staff and our guest speakers. Careers Co-ordinator, Tony Payne said, “This event is a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain an insight into some careers they never would have considered and also confirm choices they may be thinking of studying in university. It also highlighted the challenges and opportunities for them – whichever path they choose after Xaverian. We are fortunate to have such a good network of partners and staff who work hard to support this event. Thank you all.”

We look forward to next year’s event which will be just as successful

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Bouncers & Shakers

Careers Talks

‘Bouncers’ was “absolutely amazing. I loved working with the cast and Mr Mitchell did a great job at directing”

The delegates represented Argentina and Iran across many different committees, debating issues, from corruption in political office to the famine in Yemen

AoC National Championships

Handball HeskThe Association of Colleges Sport held their annual National Championships. The event is a culmination of a yearlong programme from Internal tournaments held at Xaverian, through regional qualifiers and the students are selected to represent the North West region at the Finals.

This year five students attained that honour of attending nationals in the sports of Badminton (Christopher Tu, Luke Donegan and Katie Donegan), Squash (Amie Comer), and Cross Country (Adam Spilsbury).

Overall the students competed and represented the college to the best of their abilities securing one gold,

silver, a bronze medal and one fourth place which helped the North West region to 3rd Place in the medal table.

Head of PE Martin Kilroy said “The National Championships provide an amazing opportunity for our talented athletes to excel on a national stage. The students behaved impeccably and were truly a pleasure to be with. I was very honoured to be here with them to represent our region. They demonstrated true grit and determination in places and made their parents proud and Xaverian proud.”

German students had a fantastic opportunity to tour Frankfurt as part of their course. They were able to appreciate the imposing architecture of the city’s skyline known as “Mainhatten” and the historical and cultural significance of Frankfurt as a centuries old trading centre and now the home of the European Central Bank. Students gained an insight into Frankfurt’s liberal and democratic tradition by visiting the Römerberg where the Kaiser was elected and crowned and the Paulskirche, the meeting place of the first all-German parliament and where the first democratic constitution for Germany was created.

They began their journey with a stunning exhibition at the Schirn art gallery. The glamour of Germany’s roaring Twenties and bright hopes for a democratic government after the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918 set against a backdrop of social and economic misery were all captured here. A-Level German students’ visit to the “Glanz & Elend in der Weimarer Republik” offered them a thought-provoking tour and talk in German of some of the highlights of German art of the period covering such diverse areas as political satire; the leisure and pleasure of the privileged few; intense poverty; industrialisation; the role of women; sport and work; and even the emerging media art form of graphic design. To see some of the work click here.

This was complemented by an equally fascinating exhibition on the history of German popular music at the Museum for Communication Frankfurt entitled “Oh Yeah! Popmusik in Deutschland which looked at the development of pop music over a 90-year period from 1920s Swing, Rock n Roll through Punk, Techno and Hip Hop to today’s new bands. The tour guide, recognising we were from Manchester, made reference to the influence of Manchester bands such as Herman’s Hermits, on the development of German popular music and invited students to plunge into the colourful world of pop, listening to song tracks and video clips at sounds stations.

German Trip to Frankfurt

MMU Computing WorkshopComputer Science students went to Manchester Metropolitan University for an afternoon workshop. It was specifically put together to demonstrate to students how they could combine their C Sharp programming skills (which they have been learning this year) together with Unity “a game development platform” that allows users to create powerful graphical applications. The students could then combine the programming skills in C Sharp together with a graphical platform to enable graphical objects to develop project work.

Professor Kevin Tan who teaches on the computer games degree at MMU prepared a very useful introduction to how you can spin and rotate objects, using C Sharp in the background to control the flow of the game. The students undertook a two hour practical session which will hopefully inspire those interested in gaming to research further into the possibly of incorporating into their major projects next

year. In addition he brought in Object oriented approach which will be studying in more detail in the second year.

Kaylem Wood a first year students said, “The MMU Unity talk was exciting and engaging. The tutor gave us an end goal and walked us through the process of designing and creating the system.”

Xaverian Student Sebi Hesk has recently returned from Portugal where he represented the U18’s Great Britain Handball Squad. They finished third and on the back of that has been further selected to play in another tournament for GB in Kosovo later this year.

Sebi who also plays for Warrington Wolves has been playing the sport since high school. He was introduced to it by a PE teacher and immediately fell in love with it – the mix of physicality, fitness and skill along with him being a left hander just added to his strengths for the game. He soon had trials for the county where he was selected and won the championships a year later, and also played for the North West Regional Squad and won the National Regional finals last year.

Sebi trains regularly at his club in Warrington and also at the National Academy for the GB squad. He said, “I’ve made lots of friends and met lots of interesting people since my journey began in handball. The sport is great, it allows me to express myself and showcase the talents I have. I’m still learning though so I have a long way to go but I hope to play at a higher level in the future and maybe even get on the Olympic Squad. Xaverian has been very supportive with my training and matches, and I hope that after completing my sports course here I can gain a handball scholarship in Europe and progress my game from there. The sport needs to be recognised more in this country as it’s such a great activity for lots of people to get involved in, regardless of their background or ability, I hope to encourage others.”

He recently received an achievement award from Manchester Sport Foundation in partnership with GLL’s athlete-support programme, the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF), and Manchester City Council, has progressed through the England Handball Talent Pathway. England came second in their group during a recent tournament, with Sebi top scoring for the national team. Sebi continues to play handball for Warrington Men’s U19’s and Men’s Premier league team this season and is also a keen basketballer, representing the Xaverian first team. His dream is to one day play handball professionally – we certainly hope you do!

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Computer Students Win Hackathon! Xaverian students Jiancong Huang and George Burke who are currently studying Computer Science A Level attended the Junior Hackathon that was hosted by Hac Manchester at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Whilst attending the Hackathon, they were involved in a team of four that attempted the Texecom challenge that required the utilisation of sensor data in the Museum, to produce an apropos representation of the data for a company. In order to do this, they constructed a program that would observe the fluctuation of people to and from different areas across the museum, and also monitor any particular celeripedean people at the Hackathon.

Upon the conclusion of the Hackathon, Jiancong and George were invited for a site visit at Texecom’s main complex in Haslingden.

They were awarded certificates for their success at the Hackathon, and deemed prominent developers for their current generation of young programmers.

Computer Teacher Mrs Graham said, “Well done to George and Jian, they are both excellent programmers, showing great promise with learning to program in C Sharp in lessons.”

Power, Verdicts & IdeasPolitics students department visited the cornerstone of UK democracy – The Houses of Parliament in Westminster. Joshua Murphy and Aine Egan Savage reflect on their visit: “The magnificence of Parliament was clear as we were given a tour of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, both radiating a sense of importance. Our tour guide taught us so much on the functions of Parliament and how every single detail and room played an important role. Being in touching distance of what seems so distant in the classroom really allowed all us to focus on the importance Parliament has in UK democracy.”

“From here, we moved on to the Supreme Court, which too didn’t disappoint. Being able to sit within the court itself once more allowed us to understand in more detail the importance and powers of the highest court in the land. Our guide in the court informed us about the ever growing importance of the Lord Justice’s not only in the UK but to all the Commonwealth countries also. The importance of the judiciary in society was made ever so real by our experience in the court, reinforcing the values of our democracy and freedoms.”

Our last visit was to the Institute of Economic Affairs or the ICE for short – a political think tank which focuses on libertarian economic and social policies. Here, we were given a lecture by Dr Jamie Whyte, a Director of research at the IEA. A former head of a minor New Zealand political party, he informed us about the economic policies of the past, with a focus on the Thatcher administration and how it changed the economy completely. We went on to discuss the current economic state, which proved to be extremely beneficial in studying the current government and the opposition but also the development of the Conservative party post-Thatcher. We got a really interesting insight into the role of the state and what services it should and shouldn’t provide for citizens – it made us all think”.

Students Joshua and Aine said, “Overall the day proved to be a major success for the department. It is safe to say that everyone on the trip learned something new, which in turn can be applied in the classroom.”

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Economics ConferenceXaverian Economics students attended the CISI Careers in Investment Management Insight Conference. The event was hosted at investment platform and stockbroker services provider AJ Bell’s Head Office in Exchange Quay. The company currently has around 164,500 clients and has assets under administration exceeding £39.8 billion.

After an opening speech from AJ Bell founder and CEO Andy Bell the students took part in a Speed Networking session with a range of practitioners, apprentices and graduate trainees from firms across Greater Manchester. During this session one student, Michal Sadza, impressively managed to secure a lucrative work experience opportunity for the summer break.

The afternoon session contained a “Top Trader- What’s your team investment strategy?” competition. The winning team contained two

Xaverian Students, Holly Thompson and Davy Goodier, who managed a portfolio of stocks and commodities and made a massive return on their investment to beat out the other teams.

It was especially pleasing to bump into former Xaverian Student Ben Eastham at the event, as he is now an Investment Specialists Apprentice at AJ Bell – https://www.ajbell.co.uk/careers/our-apprenticeships

Economics teacher Mr Warren said, “The students really enjoyed the day and were fascinated by the different employment opportunities that are available to them in the finance sector. Meeting and networking with a wide range of different industry professionals really opened their eyes to opportunities that are available to them.”

We got a really interesting insight into the role of the state and what services it should and shouldn’t provide for citizens – it made us all think”.

“A group of young people from around Manchester were invited to attend a speech by Theresa May in celebration of Vote 100- the anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. At this event, young people from organisations like the Manchester Youth Council, NCS and other incredible organisations, listened to the PM talk about the milestones we have reached (as a society) in striving for gender equality and also the distance we still have to go. I went in representation of the UK Youth Parliament, along with three strong young women who’ve been heavily involved in youth activism.

May mentioned issues such as the gender pay gap, the harassment and bullying that women in power receive and the absence of women in high profile roles. The PM announced the building of a statue of a Suffragette and that it’ll be erected in Manchester, which is in respect of the fact that leaders of the Suffragettes came from Manchester and we are carrying on with their heritage of justice and equality.

After the speech, young people had the opportunity to meet the PM and ask her specific questions surrounding the topic of gender

equality and legislation that affects young people. Questions such as the government’s justification for blocking the Votes at 16 legislation, the work going into improving mental health services and the ways in which young people are being represented in places like the Houses of Parliament. May answered a lot of the questions in the best ways she could and with impartial honesty.

I was extremely pleased to be at an event where in an equal amount of men and women joined the conversation about gender equality and there wasn’t a domination of a specific gender, which is more common than expected in the 21st century. In addition to this, the presence of young people communicated the fact that people in power are coming to respect the role we, as a generation, play in the future of this country- especially being the generation that came from decades of striving for equality in many areas, gender equality being one of them.”

By Daniel Rimes, Y1 Politics student.

Biology Trip to ValenciaValencia may not seem an obvious choice for a Biology trip, however there is plenty in and around the city with strong biological links. Being on the coast, we were able to visit and enjoy the gorgeous beach but also experience the wide range of activities the city has to offer to enhance our biological knowledge.

We familiarised ourselves with the city by doing a bike ride along the Turia Riverbed towards the City of Art and Sciences, then to the port and finally to the beach. At the other end of the riverbed is the Bioparc, which displays a range of African flora and fauna and the different habits in which they live together. We had a guide who took us around and educated us on each animal and the adaptations they have.

The City of Arts and Sciences includes various attractions such as the Oceanographic centre. This oceanarium is the biggest of its type in Europe and many different marine habitats are represented here. Our visit here allowed us to see lots of different species of animals that live in habitats such as the Antarctic and the Red Sea.

Other attractions that we visited in the City of Art and Sciences was the Science Museum and the Hemisferic. The Science Museum had various exhibitions including a chromosome forest where 23 pairs of gigantic chromosomes represent the human species’ genome on a large scale. At the Hemisferic we watched a 3D film ‘Walking with dinosaurs’ where we travelled to the Alaska of the Cretaceous and experienced the incredible adventures of two great herbivore dinosaurs.

About 11km south of the city is the Albufera Natural Park, a fresh water lagoon which has great natural biodiversity. We were able to have a boat trip around the lagoon and look at the different species of birds, fish and plants that live there. There are also rice fields which surround the lagoon and provide the traditional rice for paella. We were taught how the rice grows and the ways in which it is farmed. We were then lucky enough to sample this rice for our lunch, which was delicious.

The trip was a real success and despite being exhausted everyone had a great time!

English Language student Evie Morton has won the Sadie Massey awards run by the Portico Library, Manchester.

Freelance Editor Tilda Johnson, one of the judges of the competition, praised Evie’s story as “impressive” and “incredible”. The other judge, author Martin Griffin is well known to us as an ex-Xaverian teacher.

All entries were anonymous which was fortuitous in that three of the nine winning entries were from Xaverian. With over 200 entries, Lilly van Bergen and Elly Deane can be proud of their runners up commendations. Elly’s sister, Lizzie, won the same prize four years ago.

Evie’s story is published in the “Stories from the Portico Library” anthology “Time Travellers and the Crystal Dome” (Seven Arches Publishing).

Other prize winders this academic year have included Anis Rahman and Sade Teniola for best performance and best poem respectively at the Louder than Words festival in collaboration with the Wordsmith Awards, November 2017.

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PM Speech & Meeting

Creative Writing: Portico Prizes

CHESTER ZOO BUSINESS TRIPTo help our students learn about marketing, the Lower Sixth BTEC Business classes attended lectures at Chester Zoo. Zoo staff guided the students through the marketing strategies currently being used and answered questions as students gathered information and data about the zoo and its visitors. The Zoo then set the challenge for the coursework – how would our students go about further increasing visitor numbers through marketing? Quite a challenge!

This real-world problem presented by the zoo allowed the students to apply their knowledge out of the classroom and to interact with a real business facing a genuine objective. Miss Reding commented, “The bespoke lecture put on by the zoo allowed students to put their studies into context and learn about issues specific and relevant to their current assignments.”

Sam Harrison, a student, said of the visit, “It was beneficial and I loved getting an insight into how the zoo operates more widely in society too.”

As part of futures week we had visits from Andy Burnham (Mayor) Helen Pidd (Guardian editor) Amy Welch (ITV news reporter) amongst numerous other speakers from all aspects of industry. We also had 37 Universities from far and wide visit the College for a packed day of Higher Education related activities.

The universities began by giving a presentation to students, in tutor groups, about university life. The next stage of the event was held in Xavier where the universities set up with their stands and prospectuses over two large rooms. The event was very well attended by students and with every available prospectus given out!

The feedback from the visitors was extremely positive; they were all very impressed by the level of interest in their organisations and courses and how knowledgeable and engaged students were in this part of the process.

Careers Coordinator Tony Payne said, “This HE Day is a great opportunity for students to interact with university representatives and find out what studying at university is like. Students were asking all kinds of questions about courses, student life and support during their studies. We welcomed back one of our former students, Temitayo Bakare, who talked about his experiences at Aston University. We would like to thank all of our exhibitors, staff and students for making the day a huge success.”

Xaverian Futures Week

North West Science Network

HM Treasury Careers Talk

Xaverian College, as part of the North West Science Network run by Oxnet, delivered a university application advice session for some lower sixth students who will soon be applying for STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) undergraduate degrees, such as Medicine, Psychology, Physics and Maths at Russell Group universities. The session organised by science teachers at Xaverian alongside the college’s Oxnet coordinators.

The event included many different advice sessions including some specifically for students wanting to applying to Oxbridge or for Medicine and Dentistry. Students were informed about personal statement writing, given some examples of past students’ personal statements, told about different types of STEM degree subjects, advised about how to choose a good university and also how to

do well in a university interview. At the end of the event, students were then given the chance to attend a STEM lecture of their choice to prepare them for university study; these lectures included Psychology, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

The students who attended found the event very helpful for their university application preparation. Jenny Brickdale, one of the college’s Oxnet coordinators, said of the event “This was a great introduction to the Russell Group university application system for the students. They were so enthusiastic about the event and really loved the lectures at the end of the day. This is certainly an event we shall we doing again next year to prepare future STEM students to apply for the top universities.”

As part of Futures Week we were delighted to welcome HM Treasury officials Clare Lombardelli - Director General and Chief Economic Advisor, Andrew Wood – Deputy Director of the Strategy, Planning and Budget group and George Hook – Policy Analyst for the public spending group.

Clare is currently the Director of Strategy, Planning and Budget at HM Treasury where she is the lead advisor to the Chancellor on fiscal events, and is a member of the Treasury’s Executive Management Board. She holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and is a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London.

Clare has worked in government since 2005, after starting her career as an economist at the Bank of England. Her roles have included Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Private Secretary for Economic Affairs to the Prime Minister, and Deputy Director for Labour Market Policy. She has also worked as a technical advisor for the International Monetary Fund.

Our guests gave a presentation to over 100 Xaverian students about their journeys which led them to their current positions within the Civil Service. Clare, originally from Stockport, talked about how

students from Greater Manchester should set their aspirations high as she did as there are lots of opportunities out there to grab if you are willing to work hard. Clare and Andrew explained the work of Treasury advisors and through a lively question and answer session where the audience explored a range of topics from NHS funding to austerity to discussing the economic pros and cons for legalising cannabis. George talked to students about his experience of the Civil Service’s post A-Level Apprenticeship route which has led him to work in the Treasury and the Cabinet Office.

Tony Payne Xaverian’s Careers Coordinator said “It was a real coup for us to have such high profile speakers and it gave the students a sense of how the government works and showed that with real dedication and hard work you can achieve what you aim for in life. It was refreshing to hear that George had worked his way up from an apprentice and that Clare is the first female Director General.”

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Maths SuccessEach year, Xaverian students represent the college in this National problem-solving event. Each team of four – made up of two upper sixth and two lower sixth students – works together on a range of mathematical challenges that make up half a day of mind-bending but enjoyable competition.

After a round in which the whole group work together to solve as many as they can of ten problems in just 40 minutes, the team splits into two pairs to work on a cross-number puzzle. The catch is that each pair has only half of the clues, and the pairs are allowed to communicate only by writing their answers in the grid. Finally, in the highest-pressure round, the team has to solve a sequence of problems. Again requiring the competitors to work in pairs, each challenge depends on information provided by the answer to the previous one, requiring excellent cooperation between the sub-teams.

The Xaverian team for the North West heat, held at Manchester University, was composed of veterans of the Wednesday Maths club: Ava Micklewright, Benedek Kovaks, Jonathan Jennycloss and Samuel Johnson. After the cross-number round they were riding high in third place and threatening to win the heat outright, but a couple of stumbles in the relay round broke the chain of correct answers, so the team had to be content with finishing a quarter of the way down the final results table.

All of the students welcomed the chance to pit their wits against problems that took them off the beaten track of their A level courses and allowed them to compete with the best of their peers in the region. Samuel said: “The problems were a lot of fun, and the element of competition added to that. Being able to think around problems is something that will be important in my Computer Science degree, so I’m glad I could take part in this.”

Other Mathematics enrichment events this year have included a trip to the MathsFest celebration in Birmingham, five teams competing in the online MathsBombe competition run by the University of Manchester, and students attending the “Women in Maths” day, also at Manchester University.

Miss Younge and Mr Emmett led our law students on a thoroughly enjoyable two day trip to London.

Day 1: The students visited the Royal Courts of Justice where they were given a guided tour, and then participated in a mock trial in one of the court rooms. The students had prepared thoroughly for the mock trial before the trip, and this paid off as they performed extremely well under pressure. Kitty, Ellie and Ethan were suitably ice cold and impatient as judges, whilst the others played the barristers representing the prosecution and the defence. Declan impressed with his own brand of very animated advocacy, and Abbie left Cley visibly shaken following a relentless series of submissions. Alex passionately argued his case, and there were confident performances from Chloe, Lucie and Bradlee. An emotional day ended with a cheeky Nando’s in Kensington, and a stroll through a sun-kissed Hyde Park, with Chaye and Nick adventurously preferring to take the bike option.

Day 2: It began with a walk in glorious sunshine through Knightsbridge to Buckingham Palace, and on to Westminster Abbey through St James’ Park. We undertook a fact-filled guided tour of the Houses of Parliament which culminated in witnessing the proceedings in the House of Commons from the public gallery. A sighting of Jeremy Corbyn sent the pulses racing of Olivia, Grace and Emily, and it was lovely to bump into ex –Xaverian law student Sam Marshall who was undertaking an internship. We then visited the Supreme Court across Parliament Square, where a guided tour and fascinating discussion of ground breaking legal cases was followed by sitting in the public gallery to see the court in session, led by Lady Hale.

Congratulations to the students for being such good company and a credit to the College!

14 15

This year’s Community Day was fantastic, celebrating another year of hard work and commitment by everyone at Xaverian College whilst fully embracing the college ethos of love, truth and care for others. The sun even came out and the rain stayed off for the whole day!

The day was a celebration of all of our students’ achievements throughout the year and an opportunity to simply have lots of fun as a community. There were many activities that made the day special including a bouncy castle, Zumba, volleyball, penalty shoot-out and inflatable jousting. The staff play was brilliant and we had face painting, manicures, ‘selfies’, giant board games, origami, food, ice cream, smoothies and plenty of music and dancing. Our talent show was a huge success, ‘Xavs Got Talent’ saw our students perform in front of a crowd of hundreds. The acts included singers, musicians, comedy and a poet.

It was a fitting way for the lower sixth students to end their first year at college. We wish everyone a wonderful summer and we look forward to welcoming the new lower sixth to the college for the start of the new academic year.

Community Day 2018

Law Trip to London The students visited the

Royal Courts of Justice where they were given

a guided tour, and then participated in a mock

trial in one of the court rooms.

National problem-

solving event - working

together on a range of

mathematical challenges

that make up half a

day of mind-bending

but enjoyable

competition.

Xaverian College | Lower Park Road | Manchester | M14 5RBT: 0161 224 1781 | E: admissions@xaverian.ac.uk | W: www.xaverian.ac.uk

@XaverianSFC

Autumn 2018Newsletter

The summer concert was held at the RNCM, the concert was a huge success and was a collaborative concert featuring ensembles and musicians from Xaverian College, One Education and MANCEP schools.

The Big Band performed ‘Tribute to Maurice’, an arrangement of songs by Earth, Wind & Fire to commemorate the life and work of Maurice White; the legendary founder of the group. The band finished by playing a disco classic – ‘You Should Be Dancing’ by The Bee Gees, featuring several the college’s talented vocalists.

The conclusion was a joint orchestra consisting of the Xaverian College Orchestra, Manchester Youth Wind Orchestra (MWYO), MYSO, King David musicians and Loreto College musicians. The orchestra performed Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No.5, John Williams’ ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and concluded the concert with Schonberg’s ‘Les Miserables’; accompanied by the Showcase Choir.

Royal Northern College of Music Concert

The Big Band performed

‘Tribute to Maurice’, an

arrangement of songs

by Earth, Wind & Fire to

commemorate the life and

work of Maurice White; the

legendary founder of

the group.